Shock and Awe...tobots
Monday, April 30, 2012, 10:37 AM Promontory Point, Mars The vast red planetscape of Mars extends for thousands of kilometers, uninterrupted by little more than dust, rocks, and the occasional geological feature, at least until this particular area. Formerly the site of the Terran compound, it was the resting place of the massive city-Transformer Trypticon for a time, and of the compound itself, there are few traces; Trypticon parked himself right on top of it. To the southeast is the largest canyon system on the planet, Valles Marineris, dwarfing even Trypticon himself. [ Trypticon's Power Transfer Manifold G-91C ] This area of Trypticon is designated as the Power Transfer Manifold G-91C, behind this armoured bulkhead lays crucial power nodes that transfers power to the lower body of Trypticon. While this area is usually hidden well within Trypticon's interior when he's transformed into his T-Rex mode, it is vulnerable to concentrated attack when he's in city mode. [ Trypticon's Datalink Junction T-CJ77 ] This area of Trypticon is designated Junction T-CJ77, behind this armoured hide lays crucial primary datalink nodes that transmits commands sent by Trypticon's main computer matrix to the rest of his lower body. While this area is usually hidden well within Trypticon's interior when he's transformed into T-Rex mode, it is vulnerable to concentrated attack when he's in city mode. The cavern in Olympus Mons that Afterburner had dubbed 'the Killbox' is cramped, especially for a staging ground on a large scale attack, but time to dig out something more luxurious was not available: It's largely just an empty cave with a few hanging ghost lights. Sitting on top of enough explosives to explode a gestalt. So if anyone is jumpy, it may not be mission nerves. Scattershot stands at the tunnel exit leading to Trypticon, an unlit cigar in his mouth. A small recon Bot returns from his mission and checks in...Scattershot seems satisfied with what he has to say. Black Dassault Rafale is currently flying around the area on picket duty. Yay! Apex is off on the far side of Trypticon practicing in-flight combat maneuvers. Nothing impressive here really, in fact it kind of looks like something akin to glorified pacing... Avarice is standing inside Trypticon's command center. He's currently watching a screen displaying various images of the surrounding. Amber MacKenzie is dealing with pre-mission jitters. She's done the best she could, reinforcing the knees of her suit and adding rather awkward mittens in case she has to crawl on the ground. Over her suit, she has a blanket of what looks like red dust and sand. With that wrapped around her, she would be difficult to spot. At least she *hopes* so. Fanfare is currently to one side. It wasn’t intended at first for him to be part of this crew, and he still had little idea as to the part he would play. Listening to some tinny (in the thin atmosphere) ACDC he was filling out some paperwork, humming along to the music. The Killbox reminds First Aid of a lot of old hideouts on Cybertron during the Dark Ages. Cramped, poorly equipped, and dangerous should its position ever be given away. All of them had at least one joker to give it a darj gallows name. The Killbox fits perfectly in that regard. Most Killboxes have a little less explosives, and a little more escape routes. Outside of that, though, the stark difference is the scenery. Red dust vs metal and grime. First Aid steps up to the mouth of the cavern from behind Scattershot. "Everyone's reported in, Scattershot. We're ready to go. Do, ah, you want to say a few words before we take off?" Aid remembers tons of well-orchestrated patriotic speeches, but outside of Hot Spot most of the speechgivers aren't around anymore. Hubcap, it would appear, has been unable to duck out of this mission. He doesn't appear to mind all that much, as he grins slightly and taps absently away at a datapad as he leans casually against a wall. Unlike more cautious people present, he has made no effort to cover his bright yellow paintjob. <> the Cyber-Jet comms to the Dassault Rafale as it comes about, circling around to approach the other Seeker. <> Apex executes a brief barrel roll and engages his afterburners to form up on Vendetta's wing coming in a little too close for comfort as he gives the Dassault Rafale a taste of engine wash. Scattershot nods to First Aid. "Thank you." He pauses for a moment, chewing on the cigar. "This ain't going to be pretty. We jump in the deep end of the pool, we dunk some 'Cons, we get out." He grins. "If they chase us, we bring 'em back here and shorten this mountain by a few stories. Ah'll be blunt: this ain't gonna be a cakewalk. No matter how bad we're gettin' shot up, we fight for as long as Amber MacKenzie needs a window to sneak around. Ah don't know about you, but Ah'm tired of not knowing why we're in the damn trenches on this planet." He nods to the small human, who has impressed the hell out of him on Mars. "That leads to a big job: Ah need a volunteer to stay with Amber. Be her shadow. Keep her alive. Takers?" Somewhere, off to the side of Trypticon's main entranceway, some super-secret work is being done. Why is it happening out here? Because sometimes the best place to hide is right out in the open. Or maybe one of the superiors found out what you were doing and physically booted your sorry aft outside to avoid any kind of hazards to Trypticon's inner rooms and corridors. "Stupid Soundwave..." Astrotrain grunts, wearing an oversized white labcoat (hey if the Autobots can get them in season one, so can he!) as he stands in front of a portable table that has several beakers filled with glowing liquid that hisses and spits evilly. "Can't he see I'm in the middle of super important research?" Swirling the contents of one beaker, he pours it into another, causing the two glowing colors to merge and swirl in a deadly vortex. "This kind of work takes a -very- delicate touch afterall. Well, at least it should be done now. Bottoms up!" And with that, he proceeds to toss the whole contents back as he drinks it in one gulp. *Flash back to the front of Trypticon, where several gumby laborers look up suddenly as a black mushroom cloud rises into the Martian sky from behind the transformed saurian base. They stare for a few seconds, then shrug at each other and get back to work* Well that speech was different than Hot Spot's, First Aid thinks. A lot more honest, though, so the doctor doesn't begrudge Scattershot any. "I'd like to volunteer for that. It's my duty as a Protectobot." First Aid glances at Amber and gives her a nod. He wants so very bad to advise her not to go on this mission, but the years working with humans have convinced him that he has to accept their role in the war. Black Dassault Rafale gets shaken by the jet wash << Ah le connard. I am on duty zherefore so no playing around for me. Vhile I concede your cybertronian jet mode is more efficient in a light atmosphere like this one, I am superior within a full-fledged atmosphere. True air superiority comes from knowing ones strengths and weakness and zhose of your enemies. >> The Rafale corrects course and stays on his patrol route. Fanfare glances up and over as he starts to listen, then pipes up "Ah'm assuming ye need tae be dropped in sah? " he asks casually. "Ah ken supply a WEE bit of air cover too if need be. If anything, ah'll divert their fire." he chuckles. Avarice looks down that his screen, which is currently displaying images of Astrotrain. The sweep shakes his head and sighs at what he's seeing, "Really..." Amber MacKenzie makes some fidgety final adjustments to her backpack; it's a bit heavier than usual, but she'll be jettisoning the oxygen cylinders anyway. Hmmmm. She may be in better-than-decent shape oxygen-wise; this is the region in which she hid a couple oxygen caches a few weeks ago. Without anything more to do, she goes back to fidgeting, trying hard not to think of the upcoming suicide mission. Oops, did she think that out loud? Then Scattershot begins his inspirational speech - bloody hell - and she listens with an apparently calm face. "Commander, my value lies in an ability to sneak well. Having someone with me who *doesn't* have that ability... well, it's worse than having a non-sneakworthy person go in instead of me." If she survives this, she's going to have to see a psychologist, because she's clearly insane. "I'd prefer to have someone available to pull me out when the time comes." The Cyber-Jet is quiet for a moment...and then it begins to laugh loud and boldly over the comm. <> The explosion off in the distance elicits a giggle from Apex who falls back a bit before peeling from Vendetta's wing to get a good look at the black mushroom cloud rising into the redscape. <> the purple and black Seeker wonders as he slows to a near stationary hover. A few seconds pass as the small wind and dust storm kicked up by his 'explosion' dissipates around Astrotrain, revealing the blackened triplechanger in its wake, coughing violently into one closed fist as he waves the other hand rapidly in front of his face to dissipate the vapors. Something obviously went wrong. "Ohhh yeah, that's good stuff!" Or maybe it went right afterall. One can never assume just what he considers 'in good taste' safely. "I gotta write down that recipe! It was totally....aww crap." Turning back to his workstation, Astrotrain is greeted by the sight of his table reduced to little more than fragments and a gaping crater where his concoction was boiling happily a few minutes ago. "...this happens EVERY freaking time!" Hubcap's optics flicker as he glances from the camouflaged Human to the bright white Protectobot. Shadow, right. Straightening up, he shrugs lightly. "I'm no sneaky type, but as I'm little use in a fight, shouldn't I try to see if I can find anything useful, too?." Scattershot looks between First Aid and Amber. "Amber goes solo, then. First Aid, you be ready for her call. If something's preventing you from getting to her, Ah'll kill it." He nods to Fanfare. "You'll drop the team in. Ah'll be coming in as your wing. Now then, eyes and optics on these images." A small and shaky hologram of Trypticon shimmers into life. "Our primary targets. Trypticon's datalink junction and power transfer manifold. We hit these, we keep Tryps out of the game. Fanfare, you're on the manifold. Hubcap, First Aid, you've got the Datalink. Don't sell yourself short, Hubcap. We've got plenty of need for you out there. Keep your ear on the scanners- keep us updated on Decepticon reactions. Ah'll be roving and playing bullet shield as best Ah can. That's the deal, ladies and mechs. Mount up." Black Dassault Rafale notices the explosion and banks sharply to alter his course towards the disturbance to investigate. The seeker does not take the bait but makes some mental notes about Apex. << Indeed...Vonder what triggered the explosion. >> Vendetta says, "Anybody haz any information on that detonation near Trypticon?" Astrotrain says, "Yeah. Mind your own beeswax!" Apex says, "I bet you he blew himself up.. Hehehahaha!" Astrotrain says, "I'll have you know I'm in perfect shape thankyouverymuch." Amber MacKenzie receives radio message from First Aid: At the first sign of trouble, you radio me and I'll come pull you out. Apex says, "Physically, maybe... Hahah!" Amber MacKenzie sends a radio message to First Aid: Right. Avarice says, "It was Astrotrain. He is brewing something... again." Fanfare grins at Scattershot, nodding. He did wish his brother was here, but the mech would make do. His only concern was the thin atmosphere and how his props would handle it.... but with this light load, it shouldn’t be a problem he figures. He listens idly to the rest of the chatter, turning his music up a little as he stands, heading towards the door now to get the room to Transform "Are we literally droppin' in, or am ah' gonna land? " he asks. Vendetta says, "I see. I was going to ask for some but if it is that unstable...maybe I vill pass this time and wait for a better batch n'es-ce pas?" Astrotrain says, "Pfft. Just cause most of you pansies can't handle a -good- drink..." Apex says, "Soon as you MAKE one maybe we'll find out! Bwaaaah!" Astrotrain says, "Yeah yeah, but I know how it goes. Just cause a drink causes blindness in two out of four seekers y'all get your gears in a twist and pansy out. Typical." Vendetta says, "Depends on one's definition of -good drink- Afterall I am sure that somewhere a sharkticon vill swear on zhe maker that Terrorcon piss tastes like champagne but that does not mean it's true." Autobot/Decepticon spinny transition animation! While Decepticons are engaged in training activities and combat exercises, there's an afterburner roar in the distance that quickly becomes a massive battlecruiser, armed to the teeth and guns blazing enough for any Decepticon with a brain to keep his head down! <> Scattershot shouts, blasting past Trypticon and turning for a second pass! Is this guy crazy! Is he stupid! The Cons can think whatever they want, AS LONG AS THEY LOOK AT HIM. Apex says, "Hahahah! Ahhhh-hahah! Ohhhh... That's rich. Just one question... What's piss?" Folding down and around, Fanfare turns into a Can of Whoopass Yellow and black checked CF-130 Super Hercules. Avarice says, "AUTOBOTS!" Avarice says, "Trypticon is under attack." Astrotrain says, "Now you're just calling names. That's totally immatu...." Astrotrain says, "...oh you mean -actual- Autobots." Astrotrain says, "Awesome!" Apex says, "Finally!" Apex says, "Next drink made by somebody other'n Astrotrain says I drop the first Bot!" As 'Magic Carpet Ride' blasts out over his internal speakers, the somewhat not-very-camouflaged Fanfare cruises along. His engines were running hard to suck through the thin atmosphere, despite their speed not being that great actually. In his tastefully decorated hold, the music shook the floor as the mechs and human would find appropriately sized and proportioned parachutes for the 'landing'. His Scottish voice boomed over the loudspeakers. A faint shift in his direction, and the pitch rose even higher - pushing his engines to the max to get them in as fast as he could before the Decepticons scrambled. Upon hearing Fanfare's announcement, First Aid hesitates at the edge of Fanfare's exit hatch for only a split second. Far below him are Trypticon and a whole host of Decepticons. They're a grey blotch on the deep red landscape. Of the many raids he's been a part of this is one of the crazier ones. Well, no ball bearings, no glory! First Aid tumbles out of Fanfare. His form as he free falls is good, but not particularly fluid. Plummeting towards the ground spread-eagle, First Aid sees the huge red canvas rushing up towards them. It's slower than on Earth, but no less terrifying. Then, at a shockingly low altitude, the doctor pulls the chain on his chute. A dark red glowing energized parachute explodes out behind him, jerking First Aid into a slower, much more controlled descent. Touching down in a crouch, First Aid uses one hand to cut the chute's line, letting it blow away in the dust. With his other hand, he grips his photon pistol, firing controlled bursts of light at Trypticon's numerous sensor emplacements. It won't hurt the huge guy, but it might disorient him enough to let the other Autobots find their footing. "Yeeee-haaaaahhh! It's about time we had some fun around here!" Apex whoops, and banks away from the direction of Astrotrain's lesson in mixology failure 101. Cybertronian engines whine as they heat up, and their white-hot glow seems to indicate the mood of the Seeker whose amusement can be heard from miles around. "HAHAHAHAAHA! COME GET SOME!" Again, the purple and black Cyber-Jet forms on the Dassault Rafale's wing, as the targetting reticle on his HUD begins to weave to and fro before coming to rest upon the approaching CF-130. Amber MacKenzie slips out of the brightly-colored transport with a quiet word of thanks and on safely reaching the ground - thank goodness for lower gravity - she immediately cuts the lines and dives into a small cluster of rusty rocks. They seem barely large enough to hide a single small human, but she manages to disappear, a matter of using both skill at moving, her camouflage, and a good grasp of the terrain. The first thing she does is to get away from the others, the second is to park herself and study the terrain around her in greater depth. Pictures just don't do it justice. Focusing on the here and now, she manages to push her doubts aside and starts moving - slowly and carefully - towards the looming Trypticon, keeping to rough rocks and dark afternoon shadows. Hubcap steps up to the hatch even as he finishes strapping the parachute onto his frame. With a few tugs at the harness to make sure it's secure, and then hurls himself out. He grins as he falls, thoroughly enjoying this bit of the mission, at least. He suspects that when he's down things won't be so much fun. Deploying his 'chute, he makes an effort to land somewhere near First Aid, with only moderate success. Fanfare says, "Tha Pretzel is in the beer, Commander." Scattershot says, "That's the sexiest sentence I've ever been involved in, FA" Avarice leaps towards the elevator and descends towards the access corridor. The Sweep quickly passes through it, each step echoing in the empty corridor as he heads towards the exit. After a few seconds, he finally passes through the door and looks up in the sky to determine the Autobots' positions. Avarice quickly assess the situation : there are not enough Autobots here to pose a threat to Trypticon...unless they have a secret weapon... Knowing very well how Galvatron would react if the cityformer was damaged, the Sweep knows they better stop the Autobot fast, before they can do...whatever they are up to. Pulling a small pistol from a subspace pocket, he fires it at the most obvious target : the technobot commander. Combat: Avarice misses Battlecruiser with his Disruptor attack! Hardhead says, "Hmmmm...Good luck." Scattershot says, "Great flying, Fanfare. Now let's move to phase 2: Shootin' at sons of bitches!" Black Dassault Rafale adjusts his trajectory to intercept the incoming group of Autobots. He spots the sweep heading for the bigger target like a glory-hound. Vendetta counts how many parachutes he saw and goes hunting for what's missing. Not as glorious as taking down a gestalt commander but useful nonetheless. Astrotrain is just in the midst of brushing himself off, the black smears over his form actually coming off in small soot-like clouds that whip away with the Martian wind, when he spots the TOTALLY DISTRACTING ARRIVAL of Scattershot roaring overhead. "Wait, Autobots? Really? SCORE! And I thought this was going to be a dull day." Taking to the air, Astrotrain does what triplechangers do well and transforms...fast. None of that overly complicated shifting and spinning for him. Just a few convenient twists and turns and he's already sprouting wings and changed modes faster than any other Decepticon can manage! Well okay, maybe except for the Battlechargers. Not that he would -ever- admit that. As the large form of Scattershot's battlecruiser mode circles back for another pass, the shadow of an even -bigger- form begins to fall across him, the huge Decepticon space shuttle that is Astrotrain filling his entire rear viewscreen...or sensors, or whatever it is the Technobot Leader uses to keep track of his rear as Astrotrain smoothly glides into his six o'clock position, almost crashing into Avarice in the process...and apparently without any concern either. "One side, soapdish, the big mechs are coming through! Hey Scattershot! Awful nice of you Autobots to send over a couple pop-up targets for us!" The undersides of the shuttle proceed to light up followed by twin streams of purple energy bolts filling the sky to Scattershot's left, then starting to 'walk' its way towards him. Combat: Decepticon Space Shuttle strikes Battlecruiser with his Heavy Laser attack! -4 While the CF-30 looks like a good target the mech-shaped turds that it seemed to be relieving itself of looked even riper. "Well, well, well.. What have we here!" Apex shouts as the paratroopers meet with the red earth. "I reckon you boys got lost, cuz you know we don't take too kindly to yer kind 'round here!" A snicker escapes him as he swings in low toward the ground, skimming the surface with enough speed to kick up all manner of dust and debris to cloud his position before the vroom and pop of his Focus Beam streaks toward First Aid. Combat: Cybertronian Cyber-Jet strikes First Aid with his Focus Beam attack! -2 Combat: Amber MacKenzie slips into the shadows and out of sight... Battlecruiser laughs off the Sweep's blast... "Moron Unicron spawn- spend a little less time painting your nails and a little more time on the shooting range!" And speaking of the shooting range...Scattershot's got Astrotrain on his tail...Cons are pulling it together faster than he would have hoped. The Triplechanger's attack connects with Scattershot's wing and he banks right to pull free from the shot. Several gun turrets shift and aim to compensate for multiple targets. "Ah don't even rate a Blitzwing?! Primus, that's a kick in the ass!" There's a flash as Scattershot's cannons return fire! Combat: Battlecruiser misses Astrotrain but strikes Avarice with his Side-Mounted Thermal Shell Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Avarice's Accuracy. (Blinded) After dropping off his 'cargo', Fanfare starts to pull around slowly, his engines pitching once more as he banks, aiming for a predetermined landing place near a small outcropping of rocks that would block him from Trypticon’s direct view, but near enough that his compatriots could refuel as need be. Or evac in a hurry. He keeps his engines on, sending up a dust storm behind him as he watches the battle now, preparing the energon bar for use... First Aid holds fire just long enough to ensure his comrades have landed safely. Amber he spots only because he knows where she was landing. After confirming she's alright, he turns to avoid giving away her position. Hubcap made it, though not as close to him as First Aid would have liked. Moments later, he scans for the inevitable Decepticon retaliation. Most of them seem content to blast at one of the two Autobot fliers. Most... but not all. The black, purple, and grey Seeker (truly this is a Decepticon's Decepticon) spares a brief shot at him. The ground beneath First Aid erupts as the focus beam scores a near hit. Blown back by the force of the explosion, First Aid has to skid to a halt to avoid being knocked over. That's it... keeps focusing on us and not on Amber, he mentally prods. "The feeling is mutual, Decepticon," he calls out, though as he's a quiet mech it may be inaudible. First Aid fails to use Apex's name not out of disrespect, but because he doesn't know for sure which Seeker he is. Fortunately, you don't need to know someone's name to blast them with a photon pistol! Hit or miss, First Aid then takes off running, trying to avoid getting shot back. Combat: First Aid strikes Cybertronian Cyber-Jet with his Photon Pistol attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Cybertronian Cyber-Jet 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Amber MacKenzie pauses in yet another of the rocky clusters that litter this area of Mars as the noisy explosions start. She brings out some high-powered binoculars to check on her comrades, but there's really nothing she can do. With an unheard sigh, she resumes her course away from the military targets designated by Scattershot, crouching and crawling in turns. What she's looking for now are any non-front-line warriors who might have big mouths and a tendency to gossip about/commentate on the fights now going on behind her. Hubcap ditches the parachute as he touches down, and, looking around quickly to get his bearings, he jogs at a crouch over towards First Aid. Now, what was it Scattershot said? Right, right, attack the Datalink. Taking a moment to locate the target, he points at it and a laser pistol flips out of his arm, and he fires. Combat: Hubcap strikes Trypticon's Datalink Junction T-CJ77 - with his Laser attack! Avarice completely ignores Scattershot's sarcasm, not bothering himself with the opinion of an inferior. He leaps into the air, but before he can transforms, he's struck by a thermal shell, which overload his infra-red sensors. However, he doesn't let him slow him down, he can almost smell his prey. The Sweep completes his transformations and starts chasing the technobot, doing his best to avoid Astrotrain, knowing very well how bad he flies when he's drunk. He maneuvers for a moment, before he feels safe enough to fire a shot at Scattershot (take that Wheelie). Combat: Sweepcraft strikes Battlecruiser with his Power Disruptor attack! Combat: That attack has slowed Battlecruiser , making him less efficient. The Cyber-Jet rolls the barrel, serving to throw a cyclone of red dust in every which way as if the plane had dropped a tiny bomb upon the red earth in a futile attempt to avoid the incoming photon blast. "Aaarrrgh! Fraggin' Autobutt!" Apex shouts as his HUD goes all scrambly, making everything in his field of vision a blurred mess. "I hope that ain't the best you've got, cuz I ain't lettin' you off that easy!" Transforming into his robot mode, Apex hits the Martian surface at speed which only serves to add to the continuous cloud of red dust that seems to mask his every movement. When the Seeker finally finishes skidding across the redscape he manages to halt himself by extending a foot in front of himself which presses against a boulder that serves as temporary cover. Harasser Gun, Apex's trusty sidearm is brandished in a flash and the Decepticon Grunt fires another shot. "Chew on this, Aft-hat! I LIVE for this! BWAHAHAH!" Combat: Apex misses First Aid with his Harasser Gun attack! First Aid says, "I'll be right there to back you up, Hubcap." Carjack says, "What in the name of Straxus is going on up there? Proximity alarms just lit the whole damn consoles up redder than Apeface's monkey ass." Apex says, "Oooo, he made me miss! That Auto-bum's gonna pay for that.. TRUST!" Avarice says, "Autobots. They are attacking Trypticon." Carjack says, ".. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!" Carjack says, "They're either incredible brave.. or retarded." Avarice says, "I will not repeat myself Carjack." Decepticon Space Shuttle rolls almost lazily to one side, sideslipping as the stream of shells from Scattershot's return fire blaze past where he was a moment ago, detonating harmlessly against a mountainside streaking past as the two ships blaze across the sky. The huge shuttle moves with way, way more agility than it has any business having, and Astrotrain almost makes it look easy as he finishes the roll and flicks his huge form around to keep chasing his smaller prey. Overhead, the dueling spacecraft rocket over the battlefield in the blink of an eye during their dance of death. "Blitzwing's a slacker and can go play with the old mechs all he likes, I'm gonna smack ya good and proper and send ya cryin back to the crater you used to call a base. Do me a favor and -try- to make it a little challenging, alright?" He's just lining up on Scattershot for another blast, when there's suddenly a Sweep dancing about him as well, putting in his own shots. "What th...hey HEY! Get your own target you darn dirty kill-stealer!" Astrotrain is actually extremely maneuverable in the air, despite his size...as has already been illustrated. But his size still is a factor as he's somewhat 'nudged' out by the sweep getting in on it too, causing him to have to angle up to avoid a collision, his crosshairs sliding off of Scattershot for the moment. "Grrrr..." Carjack says, "That was sarcasm, batwings, don't get your fanbelt in a twist." Apex says, "They're AUTOBOTS of COURSE they're retarded!" Black Dassault Rafale sees a big bleep on the radar and breaks off to give chase. The Seeker is going straight for what seems to be a cargo plane judging from the radar cross-section. << Tu m'echappera pas mon gros. >> The Rafale switches to guns and puts the crosshairs on Fanfare before letting off a salvo from his 30mm Autocanon. Combat: Black Dassault Rafale misses 'Big Can of Whoopass' CF-130 Super Hercules with his 30mm Autocannon attack! Carjack growls, and is probably rubbing his brow. "Can you guys handle a couple of numb hexnuts with a deathwish, or do I need to come out and play damage control?" Astrotrain says, "I'm perfectly capable of handling a loser like Scattershot. ALL BY MYSELF!" Avarice says, "Unless you enjoy repairing damage...." Carjack says, "Duuuh, I'm a medic." Scattershot says, "Looks like we caught 'em with their pants down, Autobots. Defenses are light- most likely their patrolling en masse looking for us in the badlands." Fanfare says, "Wot did 'e call me??" Hardhead says, "Good work Scattershot, proceed with caution. The Decepticons are known for their treachery and tricks. Stay Vigilant." OH LOOK SOMEONE ACTUALLY USING THOSE ROADS AND RAMPS TRYPTICON HAS! No, seriously, considering most people FLY around here... but a bright red emergency truck comes cruising down one of them with sirens and lights blaring all the same, while Carjack cusses under his breath about getting dragged out here but some crazy Bots. First Aid sprints across the landscape, kicking up red dust as he goes. Over his shoulder, he sees Apex transform into robot mode in an attempt to shake off the effects of the photon beam. That's how First Aid knows he got him. It won't work, though, the doctor knows. Overloaded optical sensors are overloaded optical sensors, no matter the mode. Apex's shot goes wide even as First Aid transforms into ambulance mode. His normal road-worthy tires have been replaced with heavy duty versions designed to handle the abnormal terrain. On the ambulance's roof is his massive decrystallizer cannon. <> he radios. Indeed, First Aid is heading for Trypticon, constantly swerving in an attempt to make himself harder to hit. There's a loud zzzzZAPPPO as twin energy blasts shoot out of his primary weapon towards the city former's main datalink hub. If it hits, the area turns a sickly yellow before spreading over a larger area, weakening the Decepticon's ultra-thick armour. Combat: Ambulance strikes Trypticon's Datalink Junction T-CJ77 - with his Decrystallizer Cannon attack! Amber MacKenzie eventually locates an unlikely trio of Decepticon losers, staying out of the fight. In their defense, they don't look heavily armed. Technicians, maybe. The navy blue-and-lime green guy - wow, he has lousy taste in colors - complains about their work being destroyed by those nasty Autobots. The second, a less repulsive purple and silver, stares grimly at the fight. "A temporary setback," he announces firmly. The third is completely yellow, and he earned the color fair and square: he hides behind the others. "Lord Galvatron will kill us!" he moans. More explosions vibrate in the thin Martian air as Amber checks her line of retreat and then cautiously digs herself in deeper, careful not to stir the dust. Watching the attacks carefully, Fanfare's engines continue kicking up massive amounts of red dust... which perhaps serves to save him from Vendetta's blasts. But they do come close. "OY! Come back 'ere an' say that again to me fans!" he bellows, and small ports open up all over his body, before with multiple whistling sounds, a dozen or so flares are launched high around him, before bursting into bright light. VERY bright light. Combat: 'Big Can of Whoopass' CF-130 Super Hercules misses Black Dassault Rafale , Sweepcraft , and Apex with his Angel Flares Area attack! Battlecruiser mutters as he dives towards Trypticon, the Sweep's blast making him...less... efficient. His sonic cannons fold back under his wings and multiple laser turrets replace them, opening fire on Trypticon as well as his pursuers. <> Fanfare's flares burst around him. <> The Technobot keeps himself close to Trypticon, in hopes that it'll discourage heavy weapons from Avarice and Astrotrain. Combat: Battlecruiser strikes Sweepcraft and Space Shuttle with his Turret-Mounted Artillery Area attack! Carjack mutters some more. "Bi-linking to Trypticon's diagnostics network, tell me where they're hurting you big guy." Trypticon simply transmits a pulse-wave akin to snoring. The fighting hasn't even woken him up. Carjack says, "... Well at least we know he's not being bothered much" Hubcap twists his mouth in a frustrated scowl as he regards the damage he's done to the Datalink Junction. He thinks he /might/ have scratched the paint. <> he transmits back to First Aid. <> Swinging one foot back, he kicks out at the Cityformer in pure annoyance. Combat: Hubcap strikes Trypticon's Datalink Junction T-CJ77 - with his Take this curse you! (Kick) attack! Sweepcraft doesn't have enough time to appreciate the effects of his attack, bullets soon rip into this armor, doing some nasty damage to hi hull. The Sweep quickly transforms back into his robot mode before starting to seek some cover from the technobot. However, his optics doesn't leave the technobot as they glow red and soon fire twin energy beam at Scattershot. Combat: Avarice misses Battlecruiser with his Energy Dissipator attack! "Hehehahahah! I can see! I can SEE! Bwahahahah!" Apex cackles as his vision suddenly clears, and the strange blurry shapes finally begin to form into recognizable figures. Leaping into the air the Seeker transforms mid-jump and his afterburners BOOM as he rockets after his prey. "Now your aft is in big BIG trouble! Yeeee-haaaahahahah!" The armored nose of the Cyber-Jet angled toward the ambulance, putting Apex in a much more vulnerable position... Though given the grunt's next method of attack his own safety was the furthest thing from the Decepticon's mind. Combat: Cybertronian Cyber-Jet strikes Ambulance with his Ram attack! Apex says, "THAT's what I call usin' yer head! Hahahaha-aaahhh... Anybody else seein' double?" Thrust says, "Someone is attacking Trypticon? No! Stop them. I'm on Earth checking on our assets." After all the time he put into the restoration work after Trypticon was recovered from deep space Carjack was more familiar with the cityformer's layout that he probably wanted to ever be. The things you have to endure knowing being a doctor. He pings the city's diagnostics grid .... only to get an audio .wav of snoring. The big lazy lug hasn't even woken up from being shot at! Oh for the love of... well, at least he's not being damaged much then. That's okay, as the truck speeds around a corner he catches sight of the ambulance.... and then one of the air fighters divebombing in, and wisely skids to a stop and transforms instead of getting caught in the middle. "For spark's sake, I'm gonna end up scraping BOTH sides off the walls when this is done.." Combat: Carjack deploys his reserve energon tank. Decepticon Space Shuttle is pulling up and gets several laser blasts along his underbelly for his troubles on top of it. Oooh now that's insult to injury! "That was -TOTALLY- your fault!" he berates the sweep, whether or not it really -was- his fault of course being totally irrelevant to the triplechanger. Leveling out, the space shuttle rolls over upside-down before starting a long dive again, having a clear angle of attack once more as he drops down at ballistic speed, approaching from the Technobot's 9 o'clock high position. Is he going to perform a high-speed attack run? This is Astrotrain. Since when does he do -anything- by the book? Transforming in an instant, the big triplechanger keeps descending at rapid speed, flying superman-style with both hands out in front as he quite literally makes to crash INTO Scattershot's nose with both hands in front of him, and try to forcibly drive him down towards the surface of Mars below. "You Autobots like the dirt so much, so why dontcha kiss it for me? Bwahahaha!" Combat: Astrotrain strikes Battlecruiser with his Imma push you into the ground! (Punch) attack! Carjack says, "That was crazy... but style points for ramming into an emergency vehicle." Apex says, "No guts no glory!" Black Dassault Rafale manages to avoid the cloud of flares sent his way. << Nice try paysan! Let's see you get out of zhis! >> A locking tone is heard << Haha! Je te tiens! >> The Rafale fires off an R550 at Fanfare. Combat: Black Dassault Rafale misses 'Big Can of Whoopass' CF-130 Super Hercules with his R550 Magic Missile attack! Astrotrain says, "I love it when Autobot metal crunches under my fists." Scorn says, "Make sure to bring back some limbs." "<< Wot the 'ell are ye SAYING?>> " the Jumbo responds to Vendetta in confusion <> This time small, rather pansy ass lasers pop out of his wings, aiming to track Vendetta and return fire. PEW PEW PEW. Combat: 'Big Can of Whoopass' CF-130 Super Hercules misses Black Dassault Rafale with his Wing Mounted Lasers (Laser) attack! Fanfare says, "some'un tell me wot the 'eck that buy's sayin!"" Apex says, "There aren't any trees on Mars, dummy! BwAHAH!" Nate Briar says, "When did we get a Scottish Junkion?" Scorn says, "Really? That's not even funny." Astrotrain says, "Yeah what's up with that? Somebody get some from that mudball and plant them here. I like uprooting them and hitting Autobots with them." Fanfare says, "Ah'm nae Scottish!" Nate Briar says, "Please tell me you're 'Roddy-Piper!'" Fanfare says, "... Naye. Ah'm Fanfare" Scorn audibly facepalms Apex says, "I laughed... Hey, good idea! Maybe we can use the EDC twerps for fertilizer!" Rodimus Prime says, "Be nice, Nate. That's Fanfare. The Scottish Junkion is somebody else." Amber MacKenzie sets out her favorite camcorder in the shadow of a rock, aimed at the three Decepticon stooges, and precisely focused for sound. As they bicker and boast, complain and calculate, she watches the rest of the fights. May as well learn something from all this. She's calm for now, her emotions suspended until later, when it's safe to feel again. Avarice is one of the Sweeps, takes his combat a bit more serious than the cackling Apex. Now there's a lunatic who doesn't seem to care about his own danger. That Astrotrain is more maneuverable than he looks. Lastly, Vendetta has an accent. Wow... there's some useful information... Sit-Com says, "if it's nae Scottish, it's crrrrrrrrrrap!" Fanfare adds "Ah'm naye Junkion either!" Rory McJunkish grunts in the background, "Och!" Ambulance swerves left and right, turning so he's running parallel to Trypticon's outer wall. To his right, he sees Hubcap giving the cityformer a swift kick. To his left, he sees... uh oh. At least he has time to brace himself for Apex's approach, what with the very loud verbal warning he gets. "Oh boy," First Aid says a split-second before Apex's nosecone grazes him. It isn't much, but at that speed the impact causes the ambulance's left side to crumple inward, and the whole vehicle tumbles over, rolling several times before--and only out of luck--landing back on his wheels. Unfortunately, First Aid is brought to a complete halt by this. Although his left back window is shattered and his driver's side door crushed, his decrystallizer is at least still solidly in one piece. You can thank Crosshairs for upgrading that. Since his forward motion is gone, First Aid has to protect himself another way. A way that will make Scattershot proud: Superior firepower. The jet black decrystallizer swivels towards the low flying Apex, blasting a quick shot at him before shifting towards the datalink, firing another energy burst. The doctor continues to perform as a stationary artillery, hopefully forcing the Decepticons in the area to keep their heads down. Even Carjack gets a shot in his direction, but in this case it's a random happenstance, and won't even come close to hitting. Combat: Ambulance strikes Trypticon's Datalink Junction T-CJ77 and Cybertronian Cyber-Jet with his Suppression Fire (Full-Auto) Area attack! Nate Briar says, "Sorry, Rodimus. I was excited by the prospect of a tough Junkion warrior that had a sonic blasting bagpipes." Fanfare grumbles. Nate Briar says, "Man, we need to find us a real clansman Junkion. Brave-Heart. Wheeljack, you did wonders with your work. Is this possible? The EDC will get you whatever you need." Scattershot says, "Briar, Ah was under the impression that Klansmen weren't good people. Are you sure you want them to have Junkion firepower?" First Aid says, "That's it, Hubcap! We've nearly disabled that datalink." Nate Briar says, "Scattershot, I meant the clansman from Scotland. The ones that wear the plaid kilts and have giant swords. Not the ones in the white robes that burn wooden crosses on my lawn." A drill tank emerges from a fresh tunnel. "Oh my," the drill tank says, "It looks like Computron will be needed!" He starts to make his way to where his Technobot commander is. He may be slow, but he's reliable! Hubcap bends down to peer closely at the point he kicked. Hey! Is that a little dent? Straightening up, he scratches his head. "Okay, time for a change of strategy, maybe." Stepping away from Trypticon, he braces himself and charges, throwing his shoulder into the side of the junction. Combat: Hubcap strikes Trypticon's Datalink Junction T-CJ77 - with his Shoulder barge (Smash) attack! Lightspeed comes racing into the area at full tilt, as he approaches the fray, he quickly transformers into a Robot as he gracefully lands in the soft sands. He looks towards Scattershot. "Heya Boss!" He pulls out his sidearm as he prepares for action. "Reporting as ordered!" Apex says, "Whoa, whoa, whoa... Are these odds FAIR now? I HATE a fair fight! Who do we blame for this? *snicker*" Thrust says, "Blame Slugfest, Apex." Apex says, "Here I thought those holes he was diggin' were useless... Guess I was wrong." Apex says, "Anybody else think we should scrap that Stego? I mean... He doesn't even LOOK like a real stegosaurus! That's just sloppy." Carjack deadpans, "Take it up with Soundwave." Apex says, "Before or after?" Misfire says, "He does look like a Stegosaurus!" Battlecruiser is being slammed into the ground by Astrotrain as Lightspeed and Nosecone appear. He transforms on impact, half waving to the guys and half kicking at Astrotrain. "Alright, Triplechanger- time to jettison some weight! TECHNOBOTS, merge to form...COMPUTRON! Lightspeed and Nosecone and Strafe and Afterburner are pulled in by the mysterious of MERGE TECHNOLOGY, and suddenly Astrotrain is hanging from the standing gestalt! "ASTROTRAIN," Computron booms, "YOU HAVE A 99.7% PERCENT CHANCE OF WISHING YOU WERE NOT PRESENTLY POSING AS JEWELRY FOR COMPUTRON." Astrotrain says, "..." Apex says, "No he doesn't! I just read this article, see... WHOA incoming! Bwahahah! That was close... Yeah, this article says Stegosaurus didn't drag his tail at all! Slugfest ALWAYS drags his tail!" Carjack says, "I don't care when I'm busy here!" Fanfare says, "ACH!" Slugfest says, "Scrap Snarl!" Astrotrain says, "I call shenanigans and dirty cheating!" Apex says, "Ohhh well excuuuuuuuse ME!" Slugfest says, "No drag tail...cept when pressed." Thrust says, "Wait, wait. I thought Slugfest was a Shrinky-Dink." Hardhead says, "Status?" Fanfare says, "Awesome." First Aid says, "Hubcap and I are doing a number on the datalink, but we're getting boxed in by some Seeker, Carjack, and the side of Trypticon himself." Apex says, "Hey... Uh, did it get quiet all of a sudden, or..?" Apex says, "WHAT THE FRAG IS THAT!?" Astrotrain says, "Shuddap and give me a hand here! Or somebody go kick that overgrown toy terror-saur we keep around to quit laying around and being useless and step on Computron already!" Fanfare says, "Do ye want me tae show ol Tryps why ah'm called a 'fat' Albert, First Aid?" Vendetta says, "A bigger problem zhan we originally thought." Apex says, "Heheheh... As much as I love suicide missions, Astrotrain-err wait, I don't. Nevermind! You're on yer own! Bwahahah!" Hardhead says, "Hmmmm. Understood, if things become too heavy fall back. We can come up with other plans, people are harder to replace." First Aid says, "If that's code for knocking him out, then 'yes'!" Astrotrain says, "Screw you, hippy! I'll show ya how it's done!" Fanfare says, "Ah dun ken aboot THAT, but ah'll give it me best... hehehehe..." Astrotrain aside-mutters, "...this was alot easier when I had a Megatron-gun." Apex says, "Yeah, you do that... Want me to write a letter to yer folks?" Scattershot says, "We're outta here as soon as Amber gives the all clear, Hardhead!" Scattershot says, "HARDHEAD, PROBABILITY OF TACTICAL WITHDRAW UPON AMBER MACKENZIE'S ALL CLEAR: 100" Hardhead says, "Good. I'll make sure the supplies get to the fall back point. Good work, Big guy." Apex says, "Five energon cubes says Astrotrain buys it! Any takers? C'mon, you know you want some of this action!" Avarice looks up at Computron, idly wondering why Decepticons gestalts are never around when you need them. He doesn't look too scared, after all, like all Cybertronian, he only see Computron as an energy tank... a tank he can drain until it's completely dry. He rises into the air and launches himself forwards, hands extended towards him to touch the Autobot giant. Combat: Avarice misses Computron with his Draining Touch attack! Carjack yalps and ducks behind a portion of Trypticon's fat bulkheads as a few stray blasts come his way, waiting for the fire to die down a bit before slapping his visor down and daring to glance back out. The diagnostic HUD built into the visor lights up, semi-faking it in using medical scanners to pick up where they're shooting at the big guy and starts sprinting in that direction. As he does this the piece of hardware swings off his back and locks onto his right arm, possibly giving the spying human a clear peak as the multi-tool interfaces with his arm and converts into... an oversized and overpowered nail gun by the looks of it. As Apex has most of First Aid's attention at the moment, he manages to shove down medical rivalry to sprint closer to where they're actually shooting at, and catches sight of.. yellow?... minibot?... not quite the same, but if anyone knows how possible bodywork is, it's him. "A lame rebuild isn't going to save you, Bumblebee!" Seriously, the other little yellow dude gets all the hype. Not one to bother worrying about a case of mistaken identity he hoists his weapon and peppers a burst of nails at high velocity at him. "Get away from that piece of equipment!" Combat: Carjack misses Hubcap with his Weaponized Nailgun (Pistol) attack! Misfire places five on Astro buying it, Aimless places 5 cubes that he lives. Vendetta says, "I vill help you camarade. Let the coward beat on ambulances while the warriors do the zhe real work." Nate Briar says, "I'm preparing a decoy for you guys right now." Carjack says, "Hey guys." The Cyber-Jet had been waiting for another opportunity to use his head on the battlefield, and he sure did find it! Giggling like a schoolgirl, Apex rocketed past the halted emergency vehicle, already preparing to come about and deliver yet another nosecone bash...until the decrystalizer decided that it had other plans. "WHA-OAH!" the Seeker exclaimed, and a slab of armor popped and sizzled as it was removed from his chassis, the impact sending the Cyber-Jet off course enough so that the portside wing met with a risidual boulder briefly before the craft could stabilize. "Owwww-WEE! Haha, MECH I think I may have underestimated you! Good to know I picked the right partner fer this dance! Now get ready to follow my LEAD!" Apex would have tried to help Astrotrain out, but then again...he has energon cubes on him buying the farm this time around. Combat: Cybertronian Cyber-Jet misses Ambulance with his Focus Beam attack! Astrotrain was having the time of his life! One moment he was grinding Scattershot into the dirt, ready to let him have it what-for in his favorite pastime...random fisticuffs! If there were leaves lying around, he would have started trying to stuff them in Scattershot's shirt! If he wore a shirt. Things take a nasty turn a moment later, however...and he's suddenly dangling from Computron's form, both hands still clinging to one of the gestalt's antennae as his feet kick freely and he stares wide-opticed at the gestalt at point-blank range. And then of course, Computron is talking...and that's what sets him off. Under -normal- circumstances, Astrotrain has a very healthy sense of self preservation, and really if the Combiner had done the typical 'ME SMASH YOU TO TINY BITS' Astrotrain probably would have scurried off to find better pickings elsewhere. But when Computron's going on about percentages and such, it just really touches the triplechanger in a way that makes him want to scream out... "....NNNNEEEEEEEEERD! GAH! if there's one thing I hate more than nerds it's GIANT nerds. Shut up, shut up, SHUT UUUUUP!" Still holding on with one hand, Astrotrain abruptly kips up and pulls his rifle free with the other, jerking it up and down as he 'cocks' it shotgun-like with a loud *KR-CHAK*. "Awright fine, Computron! You know what I wish you'd do? What I -really- wish?" And with that, he swings his rifle around and puts the barrel right to the gestalt's mouth. "That you'd open up and say 'ahhh'!" Combat: Astrotrain strikes Computron with his Ionic Displacer Rifle attack! Carjack says, "At least try and keep enough pieces for me to put you all back together." Black Dassault Rafale breaks off from Fanfare and flies straight at Computron's back << Focus fire zhe blind spots. That thing cannot be that fast. >> Vendetta avoids missiles as to not warn Computron with a locking tone. He switches to guns and fires off with his 30mm Autocannon. Combat: Black Dassault Rafale strikes Computron with his 30mm Autocannon attack! Astrotrain says, "You pansy-ass chicken-bots. I'll tear all that big fancy armor off him inch-by-inch if I have to and I'll show ya all up!" Apex says, "Hey, no hard feelings Astro! Daddy's got a family to support!" Carjack says, "The thought of you as a father figure is terrifying." Fanfare says, "Beginnin' tae close in fer pull-oot. Ah'll save the surprise fer last." Apex says, "What-why!? I'd make a great pappy!" Carjack deadpans "I was talking about how the kids would turn out. Slugfest says, "Cons no can be daddies!" Astrotrain says, "Maybe I'll take your sorry seeker face and use it to hit this overgrown calculator at this rate!" Slugfest says, "Us no has birds and bees." Nate Briar says, "Let me know when I can launch my decoy for you guys. Trust me, this is going to have the Decepticons confused." Carjack says, "We have Buzzsaw and Buzzkill, close enough!" Apex says, "Astrotrain, listen... If I help you how are you going to learn to survive on your own? You're a grown-aft MECH now. Act like it!" Apex snickers. Fanfare says, "but that's ME job..." First Aid says, "Is that refuel offer still open, Fanfare?" Carjack says, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have SABOTUERS to DISECT" Fanfare says, "Absolutely First Aiid. Ah'll be there in four 'undred turns of a props' blade." Nate Briar says, "I'm giving a report to CNN now." Astrotrain says, "We'll see who's badaft when I get one of Computron's antennae as a trophy!" CNN Reporter Lewis Clark says, "Incoming news that the EDC has launched a special-ops mission to infiltrate Charr. Colonel Nathan Briar and Lt. J. T. Marsh with their crew of a classified number are taking the newly built shuttle, the Ecto-Runner, on its maiden voyage. From what we were told, the EDC has newly acquired technology that was granted to them by an unlikely ally; the Quintessons... in turn that the EDC and Autobots hand over both Shockwave and Galvatron. Hopefully, this newly forged alliance will rid Earth of the Decepticons and future Sharkticon attacks." Fanfare starts to burn up his props as he begins taxiing out from behind the stones. In the thin Martian atmosphere, his VTOL Equipment isn’t powerful enough to lift the behemoth. But it could work just fine as he begins to accelerate, bumpity-ing across towards Trypticon, heading towards the other Autobots. His First Target being First Aid. He slows down, reversing the angle of his prop blades to lurch unnaturally to a halt as his side swings open once more, revealing a gas bar, complete with automated nozzles and pumps that extend out to refuel the smaller Autobot, hidden somewhat under the giant yellow-and-black checked Whoopass Wing. Combat: 'Big Can of Whoopass' CF-130 Super Hercules deploys his reserve energon tank and refuels Ambulance 's energon reserves. Nate Briar says, "During WWII, we did tricks like that all the time to trick the enemies. I want to see if we can trick the Decepticons that the EDC is up to something so we can get half their forces to retreat back to Charr." Geo coughs. Computron slowly turns his head as he absorbs the Decepticon blasts. His face remains a blank slate as he methodically runs through the probabilities of each of his potential attacks. Finally he settles on Astrotrain. "Astrotrain, probability of future damage 79.2342342211" He quickly lifts his hand as he prepares to slap at the triple changer off his face. "Probability of Success in attack, 93.1111232121." With that he swipes at the Triplechanger. Combat: Computron misses Astrotrain with his Wiping the Jaw! Math Style! (Punch) attack! Carjack says, "What is it now Geo, we're kind of busy here!" Thrust says, "Geo, did you swallow Buzzkill?" Unfortunately, Amber misses Carjack's tricksy nailgun of doom. Instead, her eyes widen as the gestalt comes together, and she gapes at Computron. This is the first time she's seen one assemble... combine, merge, whatever. She is almost distracted from the conversation behind her, but something about Earth definitely yanks her attention back to the Tres Amigos. Purple-and-Silver has his arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. "... but if it works..." He loses his smile briefly at having nearly spoken sacrilege and rushes on with "... which of course it will, we win." Yellow Decepticon whines, "But it's alien technology. Remember what happened to..." Purple-and-Silver snaps, "Shut up! It was just a temporary setback, and don't you forget it! We are Decepticons, not cowering fleshlings! We will use technology from the alien base to kill all the humans." Amber tenses. That's it. Time to get the hell out of here. Apex says, "Oh c'mon! Stupid Computron... I swear if I lose my ration because Computron is fraggin' blind..." "Hubcap, look out! Decepticon on your six!" First Aid shouts as he spies Carjack sneaking out from behind one of Trypticon's walls. Shoot, a Decepticon medic is on the field. That's going to cause serious problems if the Cons get themselves in gear. It's only a matter of time before Apex gets in a lucky shot and blows First Aid's wheels off. Although decently armoured, the doctor can't take this kind of punishment for long. Thus, when Apex gets back on track with that energy beam of his, First Aid's kicks into overdrive, speeding off. The focus beam strikes just behind him, following behind the ambulance as it digs into the ground. First Aid is just... barely... able to keep ahead! Unfortunately, he's forced to veer away from Trypticon, leaving Hubcap all alone. Up ahead, he sees the CF-130 Herc land smoothly on the alien terrain. Just a little farther, he tells himself, and you can use Fanfare's wing as cover. His wheels squeal in protest, but First Aid makes it! The nozzle shoots out and attaches to his undamaged passenger side. "Phew, are you a sight for sore optics," First Aid says. Although mostly covered by Fanfare, First Aid knows this isn't a safe place to be for long. Apex will be coming, and the Protectobot is unwilling to put Fanfare into anymore danger than he's already in. Thus, the decrystallizer swivels once more and takes aim for the incoming Seeker. "I know this is going to sound corny, Decepticon, but you'll never 'dance' with the kind of teamwork the Autobots have. Case in point:" KA-BOOM! Combat: Ambulance misses Cybertronian Cyber-Jet with his Decrystallizer Cannon attack! Astrotrain sounds winded, like he's concentrating. "Here's a lesson for ya pretty boy." Astrotrain says, "Us triplechangers are elites cause we're just -that- good." Apex says, "Who you callin' pretty? My name ain't Windshear!" Astrotrain says, "I assure you I've never -ever- considered any seeker pretty." Apex says, "You better not! Cuz I ain't the submissive type!" Yes, it was a dumb thing to do, and yes, Hubcap knew that going in. He doesn't change his mind as he bounces off Trypticon's armour and lands on his aft, kicking up a pile of rust-coloured dust. Grimacing, he rubs his shoulder, which shows more sign of damage from his charge than the datalink does. "I /told/ 'em I wasn't cut out for all this 'hitting' stuff..." Huhn, looks like it turns out to be lucky, as his bounce throws him clear of a spray of nails. What was that? Bumblebee? Reacting rather than thinking, he sends out a flood of audio static. "I am -not-" he begins, before re-thinking. A mistaken identity could be useful, "Lame," he finishes, lamely. Combat: Hubcap misses Cybertronian Cyber-Jet and Carjack but strikes Astrotrain, Computron, and CF-130 Super Hercules with his Super Hearing Area attack! That attack has temporarily limited their Agility! (Crippled) Avarice misses his target and crashes into the ground, hopefully unnoticed. He quickly leaps into the air and transforms into his sweepcraft mode. He accelerates to make himself a more difficult target. He waits for an opening and finally get one. Without hesitating for a moment, who cares if he hits Astrotrain too?, he fires an energy blast at the Autobot gestalt. Combat: Sweepcraft strikes Computron with his Power Disruptor attack! That attack has slowed Computron, making him less efficient. Astrotrain is extremely agile and nimble. Ridiculously so at times, in fact. Even as the huge hand comes sweeping towards him, he's already moving, using his hold on Computron's right antennae to tug himself upwards as he leaps over the gestalt's hand and behind, letting both his feet come down to either side of where Computron's 'neck' would be, his feet making contact with a heavy *CLONK* of metal on metal as he straddles the giant's shoulders behind his giant head. Oh no, he's not going to be dislodged -that- easily. With both hands free now, he cocks the rifle again, a second *KR-CHAK* issuing out as he feeds a fresh module of ionized energy into the chamber. "Yeah yeah, keep pumping out yer statistics and numbers and forget that I'm a lot faster than most of the freaks you try and squash. You wanna catch -me-, yer gonna have to work for it. I'll do ya a favor and tell ya exactly what I'm gonna do too just so ya don't have to think about it too much!" Holding his rifle in both hands, he points it straight down at the base of Computron's neck and starts pouring out more fire from its tip. "I'll turn this down low-yield, and it ain't gonna do much damage to ya. But what I -am- gonna do is peel all that big thick armor off ya bit by tiny bit, and then you're gonna be nothing but a big paper-thin target for everyone else!" Of course, Hubcap's audio static proceeds to flood over the area, washing the two of them with its effects, but Astrotrain stays focused, gritting through the rattling in his audials. "Come on, let's see that armor melt off!" Combat: Astrotrain strikes Computron with his Peeling armor off one layer at a time! Attack! Astrotrain says, "Grrr, someone wanna shut that little freak up? I'm -trying- to concentrate here!" Apex banks right, avoiding a large boulder as he speeds after First Aid, and then the Cyber-Jet banks to the left to avoid another, and then pulls up sharply over a small plateau before diving just in time to pass under an overpass made of martian rock. "Where did all this crud come crom? Like I'm in a fraggin' videogame or somethin'!" he growls, only to laugh a moment later once the targeting reticle on his HUD steadies over First Aid. "Nice try!" comes the Cyber-Jet's shout to the Autobot as his decrystalizer goes wide this time. "I haven't lost my old tricks either, y'know!" The Seeker's afterburners ignite again, and forward rockets the purple, gray, and black Grunt on yet another suicide run. "This is gonna SUUUUUUUUU-" Combat: Cybertronian Cyber-Jet misses Ambulance with his Ram attack! Carjack just guffaws at the audio feedback, rapping the side of his firefighter-like helmet with a palm. "Sorry, this baby is reinforced against audio feedback so I don't have to listen to the screams of 'patients' as they leak to death." As he pulls back his weapon for the moment it clicks and changes from a gun to deploying a large sawblade. That begins to hum and vibrate ominously as he grips the secondary handle and stalks towards the minibot. "I'm gonna dissect you into so many little pieces for messing with all the hard work and effort -I- went through to build this fat boy up after he crashed back to earth there won't be enough left for Swindle to hock on the Carbombya black market!" Followed by a manic laugh that could put most homicidal maniacs to shame as he lungs and swings the roaring cutting blade at... whichever minibot it is. Combat: Carjack strikes Hubcap with his Malpractice attack! Black Dassault Rafale keeps buzzing around Computron and aims for a spot not too close to where Astrotrain is hanging and hopes the others are big enough of a distraction for "Magic Missile". << We have him on the ropes...so far. >> BEEEEEEEEEP locking tone. << Vendetta targeting the big nerd. Fox two! >> An R550 fires off from the seeker towards Computron. Combat: Black Dassault Rafale strikes Computron with his R550 Magic Missile attack! Carjack hahs. "Working on it!" A -really big- saw can be heard revving up. With all the care she used in reaching her eavesdropping point, Amber pulls back. Her camcorder is stored safely in a pocket, and she takes the trouble to smooth the sand and dust as she slowly moves away from the lofty city-former. She only pays enough attention to the fights to be able to avoid them, but she's well aware that the longer she takes, the more likely it is that someone will be hurt. Hopefully, those Decepticons. A small rock turns under her foot, and she has to drop to a padded knee before moving on again. Amber MacKenzie says, "I have something, thanks to gossiping Decepticons. I'm pulling out. When I'm clear of the fire zone, *then* I'll need a ride." First Aid says, "Fanfare and I are waiting. We'll cover you." Fanfare says, "On me way, lassie! Ah'll be at the rendezvous point in ten minutes." "All full up mate?" asks Encore. At the affirmative, and the radio message, he starts to roll forwards again, his blades putting up MASSIVE amounts of dust as he begins taxiing towards a cleared area, where he could take off easily. The energon bar swings shut, sealing the volatile fuel safely away. As Apex sears by, he bellows "HAH! YE so bad, ye missed ME!" even if Apex didn’t aim for him. Fanfare says, "*five minutes later *Ah'm there!" Computron is attacked from all sides. "Datum. Astrotrain is annoying. Datum. The Sweep is irritating. Datum. Vendetta needs a good kick in the rear. Conclusion: HIT ALL THE ANNOYANCES!" He spins around, swinging his fists and hoping to knock into the attackers. Combat: Computron misses Black Dassault Rafale but strikes Astrotrain and Sweepcraft with his Consensus Opinion Area attack! Apex says, "Hey guys look out!" Amber MacKenzie says, "Feel free, guys, to really stomp their flyers. We don't want them following us back." Vendetta says, "Thank you Capitaine Obvious" Apex says, "Just doin' mah job. Hehehahahah..." Now, now, this is Bumblebee, we've established that. With a weak smile, Hubcap raises a finger, "To be fair, I've barely done more than scratch the g-YAHH!" Hubcap cries out as Carjack's sawblade gouges a chunk of his armour from his torso. Staggering backwards and clutching his side, he flips out his arm-laser and snaps a shot off at his attacker. Combat: Hubcap strikes Carjack with his Laser attack! Ambulance isn't out of tricks either. "Thanks," the doctor replies with mild sarcasm. "You'll excuse me if I don't try harder next time, though." The medic fires another burst from the decrystallizer, but it ain't happening. Apex has a solid lock on his location and is dodging like a mech possessed. First Aid sees Fanfare start to move and takes immediate action. He jumps up into robot mode, grabbing onto the side of the energon bar even as it starts to close. The momentum caused by it closing tosses him gently into the air even as Apex roars past where he just was. Landing in a crouch, First Aid is now in robot mode... on top of Fanfare. Aid keeps on hand on a roof-mounted handhold (he ain't the first to surf Fanfare), and one hand on his gun even as the transport begins taxiing. Oh, Primus, thank goodness Groove isn't here to see this! Looking to his left, he sees Apex blasting away. He takes aim and holds down the trigger. He looks to his right and sees Carjack hassling his friend. That will not do. "All dissections are on hold, Carjack! If you have anything to say about it, say it to me!" He fires a flurry of blasts in the Decepticon doctor's direction. Any thatm iss are liable to hit the datalink. Combat: First Aid strikes Cybertronian Cyber-Jet , Carjack, and Trypticon’s Datalink Junction T-CJ77 with his Photon Pistol Area attack! That attack has temporarily affected their Accuracy. (Blinded) Astrotrain was doing just fine until Computron started spinning in place. He actually didn't even get punched, but as the huge figure starts turning and turning and turning, the triplechanger was suddenly trying his darndest to hold on, grabbing onto that antennae again, then is abruptly hurled free and send spinning end over end through the air until he crashes right into the side of Trypticon's armored bulk. Splatting like a pancake for a few seconds, then sliding down until his aft touches the ground with a harsh *CLUNK*. "..." Coughing off to the side, the triplechanger slowly pushes himself up again to one knee, then to his feet, shaking his head to get the cobwebs out. "Hmmph...that all...ya got? I'll be fine in a sec! Soon as I can see straight." In fact, he's having trouble seeing right, and it becomes clear a moment later as to why. His head has been twisted around backwards and is facing the wrong way. "...seriously? SERIOUSLY? Hey, hey medic-guy! You wanna -do- something about this?" He indicates his backwards-facing head, even as he turns around and tries very clumsily to aim his rifle again. "You have ANY idea how awkward this is!?" Nonetheless, while 'aiming backwards' he fires off another shot at Computron, this time aimed at the giant's midriff. He knows it isn't very damaging, but that's not his goal just yet. "I'm still gonna peel you out of that big thick shell you overgrown data-freak!" Combat: Astrotrain strikes Computron with his It shits molecules just slightly to the left... attack! -5 Sweepcraft is struck the Computron's giant fist. His armor is shattered and Avarice is sent flaying far far far away. Somewhere, out of sight, he crashes into a Martian mountain. Someone with enhanced optics could see some smoke coming out of a cloud of dust in the distance. First Aid says, "Datalink is badly damaged. Dunno if anyone can spare the trouble to finish it off. Hubcap and I have our servos full." Fanfare says, "Me peashooters are nun good, and since ah'm the ticket oot, ah cannae risk playin' buck buck with et, sorreh" Astrotrain says, "Aw come on, out already? Freakin fragile little sweeps." Black Dassault Rafale pulls up sharply to avoid Computron's slap. After reaching a little higher than Computron's head, Vendetta transforms back in robot mode and unsheathes his electro-rapier in a flash of electricity and drops behind the gestalt trying to slash a big 'V' across Computron's back. Might not hurt much but the graffiti will give him some props. Combat: Vendetta strikes Computron with his Electro-Rapier attack! Avarice says, "..." Carjack continues to cackle as Hubcap scrambles away, hoisting the saw up with intent to strike again as he turns to follow, several laser shots pinging off his armor. "I'm gonna -- gah!" Except he turned right into First Aid's range of fire, and his visor does -nothing- to block it out due to being a sensitive piece of observation equipment. "Of all the--" He growls and smacks the side of it with one hand, then finally shoves the visor up as the HUD refuses to clear. Except then Astrotrain starts yelling for help as he staggers around. ".. Sorry, as much as I'd love to gut you instead, duty calls." Carjack retracts his weapon and uses his anti-grabs to jump towards the Triplechanger, trying not to snicker at his predicament too much. "Hmmm. Oh, I know how to just handle this." He pulls out a big old metalsmith's hammer... And swings it against the back of Astrotrain's head to spin it back around the right way. Then goes about banging some of the dents out of his armor while he's at it quick like. The Cyber-Jet shudders as his HUD goes wacky yet again from First Aid's photon pistol attack, and the Seeker is forced to pull up sharply less he misjudge the terrain and slam nose first into the ground. "Arrrgh! Fraggin, slaggin', razza-frakin'!" Yosemite Sam...eat your heart out. The Cyber-Jet burns up high, as if running from the battle but anyone that knows Apex knew a heck of a lot better than that. "That's it! That is SO it!" And a little quieter to himself, "Hehehehahah... I haven't had this much fun since those Sharkticons nearly bit my legs off." "I'm gonna tear you apart, Autobot scum!" Apex begins to pull up while his Focus Beam charges, not quite looking forward to a death defying move this time around given his lack of clear vision. "Now just hold still so I can take you out already!" Combat: Cybertronian Cyber-Jet strikes First Aid with his Focus Beam attack! Carjack says, "Leave the sweep for now, I'll send a recovery crew afterwards" Apex says, "Astrotrain! What's your status?" Amber MacKenzie pauses in the inky shadow of a friendly Martian boulder to change out an oxygen cylinder. It still has half an hour to go, but she doesn't know when she'll get the chance again; things could go pear-shaped at any moment. Peering about, she sees a couple flying Decepticons, but they aren't flying under their own power. She smirks. Nice. And they're not in her way, either. She resumes her laboriously slow trek towards the rendezvous point, cautioning herself not to risk being seen by hurrying. This is *so* not her style. She'd rather be playing cat burglar with her big sis. Not that Catherine did that sort of thing anymore... Astrotrain coughs, "Takes more than that to put me down for good. THAT's how ya take a punch, freaks!" Apex mutters. Carjack says, "Unlike -some- of the lunkheads around here, Astrotrain can at least back up most of what his mouth spews." Apex says, "Which I would normally be all for...'cept when it costs me energon! Slag!" Astrotrain says, "Suck it down and mech-up, loser!" Apex says, "You want me to do WHAT??" Carjack says, "Astrotrain, stop it with the potential life partners innuendo, Blitzwing might get jealous." Astrotrain says, "Blitzwing's too busy playing kissyface with deep-space pirates. -I'll- show ya how it's done." First Aid keeps watch on Carjack. The enemy doctor doesn't continue after Hubcap, and instead moves to fix up Astrotrain. Good, good. Out of the corner of his optic, he spots Amber coming towards the rendezvous spot. Maybe, just maybe, everyone is going to get out of this ok! You'd think First Aid would know better than to think that, but he didn't. Finally, Apex nails him square on with that focus beam. The Protectobot's red chest armour lights up from the strike. It's only out of instinct that his grip on Fanfare's railing and his gun tightens, and so he fails to let go of either. As the beam subsides, First Aid, covered in red dust and now black soot, is still standing in a three-point position. He holsters his pistol, glancing down at his own injuries. His armour is cracked, but his internals are still functional. Aid's had worse, and he uses his now free hand to point his fingers at the wound. Surgical lasers quickly seal it up. He doesn't verbally retaliate to the Seeker; fully repairing the injury (and then some!) ought to be an insult enough. Hubcap's optics flicker as his opponent... loses interest. "Well, good." For a moment, he just stares around then, with a shrug, turns and kicks the datalink again. Maybe if he focuses on one spot... Combat: Hubcap strikes Trypticon's Datalink Junction T-CJ77 - with his Break damn you! (Kick) attack! Apex says, "WHAT? Oh c'mon! That's not fair... I think I like that Bot, heheh. Hey Carjack! Think you got a lil somethin' fer me in that bag o' goodies?" Carjack says, "What do you want, fixin's or fuelin'?" Apex says, "Frag it... Just shoot 'em in the face for me. I think I'd prefer that-hawhaw!" Computron looks around. "Datum. Decepticons damaged, some unable to fight. Datum: Trypticon is nearby. Conclusion: Pull back before Trypticon awakens! Astrotrain says, "...what? WHAT?" Astrotrain suddenly starts laughing insanely. Geo says, "... hoo boy." Apex says, "You gotta be kidding me! They're LEAVING!?" Vendetta says, "We chased him off! Nice work mon ami." Astrotrain says, "YAHAHAHA, look at him pulling out? OH YEAH, do you hear THIS!?" Carjack says, "Of course they are." Astrotrain can be HEARD flexing. Apex says, "But... I'm not DONE!" Carjack says, "The reason they were attacking was a cover for the saboteur *I* had to chop a chunk out of!" Astrotrain says, "Wait, what saboteur?" Astrotrain says, "That little -freak- who made the annoying noise?" Carjack deadpans, "Exactly." Carjack says, "Yes" First Aid says, "Come on, Ms. MacKenzie! Your ride is here." Apex says, "Urgh! For realz? They ALWAYS do this... Every time we get into a fight it's always just cover for somethin' OBJECTIVE based, and when that's over the whole fraggin' fight is over. LAME!" Astrotrain says, "The one who didn't pull back while Computron was? Who I'm looking at right now? That teeny tiny one?" Geo says, "Shoot him in the face." Vendetta watches Computron ordering the retreat and making his way out of the area. Vendetta raises his left arm laser at the back of Computron's knee and fires off a few shots. << Victoire! Haha! >> Combat: Vendetta strikes Computron with his Seeker Arm Lasers attack! Apex speeds across the redscape after delivering a blow to First Aid that is sure to screw up the Autobot's day, and with a quick pull up the Cyber-Jet transforms. Landing with a crunch upon the Martian surface, Apex brandishes his Harasser Gun and twirls it fancifully before aiming it with style toward the Autobot Medic. "Time to di-err?" he blinks, seeing the damage he'd caused throughout the battle expertly repaired for the most part save a few dings and scratches to the other mech's paintjob. "I fraggin' HATE medics!" Combat: Cybertronian Cyber-Jet sets his defense level to Neutral. Carjack backs away from Astrotrain once he's done... and the big guy is backing off? So it -was- a diversion for that little whelp trying to break their stuff! Ooooh, that really pisses him off. "I'm gonna teach you guys but good about trying to pull dirty slag like that!" ... except now he lost track of where that little yellow punk ran off to. But then Apex points out where the medic is still lurking and requesting he shoot the other doctor in the face. Dropping to the ground he crouches a bit, trying to pick out the Protectobot half-hiding under the plane's bulk, and pulls out his own gun to fire one of its chemical filled darts. "Let's see how you like -my- prescriptions, doctor." Combat: Carjack strikes First Aid with his Bad Medicine attack! Astrotrain's head spins like a top for a second after Carjack gives it a good whack, complete with a comical *FWEEEEE* noise, and the triplechanger brings it to a stop by slamming his free hand on top. As some of his dents are hammered out, he spits out a globule of glowing energon to one side, then wipes his mouth with the back of that same free hand. "Okay! Much better. Now where was I? Oh yeah, peeling an overgrown metal onion, that's what!" But when he turns to look back towards the gestalt he sees...Computron leaving? The triplechanger blinks, and stares, and then, starts to laugh insanely. "...hah...hah hah! YEAH! Get on out of here you overgrown freak! You ain't so tough on yer own -or- caught up in that freakish linkage with your bosom-buddies, Scattershot! As-tro! As-tro! As-tro!" Horror of horrors, Astrotrain is actually hip-thrusting at the last part as he chants. But the Decepticon radio is all abuzz, and Carjack is otherwise occupied, so Hubcap has all the aggro off of him at first. But Carjack is also a big blabbermouth, and Astrotrain has caught sight of the little yellow figure moving around in the background. "...yellow? They brought -Bumblebee- with them?" With that, he proceeds to transform, slower than normal as he slams down on all eight huge steel wheels. A huge roar from his built-in rocket thrusters helps him get up to speed as he suddenly careens straight across the battlefield, actually crashing into the side of Trypticon's bulk once and glancing off as he gets more 'on course' and pours on the acceleration. With body twisting in place while folding up on himself, Astrotrain slams to the ground as a huge armored locomotive. And poor Hubcap is right in his sights, the minibot's form reflected in the chrome finish of Astrotrain's armored front section. "Shoulda beat it while your giant bodyguard was beating it earlier ya little freak. You go squish now!" Combat: Armored Locomotive strikes Hubcap with his Here comes the Pain Train attack! That attack has temporarily impaired Hubcap's Agility. (Crippled) Amber MacKenzie is within sight of the huge aircraft that is Fanfare, but she still doesn't leave cover or quicken her pace, even though she sees poor First Aid get nailed. No, the shooter could get her, too. She's tiring, but common sense still rules. Another pause shows her that she's the only one in the area, outside of Fanfare, First Aid, and... Apex. She hopes the rest make it safely back to the craft. "In sight, First Aid," she transmits, "but your 'friends' are shooting at you. I'll go around to the other side, since my suit isn't as good as your armor. Give me five minutes." Apex helpfully stands there doing nothing, and then Carjack is in the way. She curses silently and tries to flank them to reach Fanfare from the other side. Amber MacKenzie says, "Sorry, but they're in the way." Computron continues his sprint....fast walk away....ok walk way. "Probability of successful retreat! 13.1122313% Solution: Dissolve and continue advancing in the opposite direction." With that Computron flashes a golden light and becomes his separate parts. They all make their way towards Fanfare! Hubcap glances over his shoulder at Computron as the Gestalt calls the retreat, or at least announces that /he's/ leaving. Not wanting to stick around without the big guy, he turns to retreat... aaaand runs smack bang into the Pain Train. Contrary to Astrotrain's stated goal, though, instead of being squished, Hubcap is knocked flying into the air, landing in an uncontrolled tumble, kicking up more of the rusty-looking dust. Groaning, he climbs to his feet and mutters to himself, "I need to learn to do the sneaky-stuff." Transforming, he speeds towards the getaway vehicle. Astrotrain huffs, "Now -that-'s satisfying. I got that yellow minibot paint smeared all over my frontal armor." Ok, First Aid. You have a friend in need being stared down by the business end of Astrotrain's locomotive mode. You've got an incoming human operative who's just completed a mission and is extremely vulnerable. A damaged friendly Combiner is executing demerge and boarding action. You're on top of a moving aircraft, you've got an enemy Seeker aiming at you, and your opposite number is currently drawing a bead with some kind of chemical dart. Another day in the life of a Protectobot. The triage part of his focuses on making sure Amber gets safely on board even as he fires off a transmission, <> First Aid pulls himself along the top of Fanfare's fuselage, hand over hand, moving to position himself above his entry hatch. He catches sight of Carjack again. The Protectobot is vulnerable here, and so all he can do is tank it when the dart strikes him in the right shoulder. First Aid grunts, but glances at the still embedded dart. Just when he's thinking that didn't do much damage, the serum activates. First Aid's arm suddenly convulses as a dirty bronze infection spreads down the limb. "Argh!" he cries in muffled pain. Cosmic rust! The rust rapidly covers the entire arm. His fingers stiffen as the armour crinkles and become brittle. Within seconds, the rust threatens to move into his chest. The doctor shoots Carjack a furious look, aims his good hand at the wound... and amputates the infected arm with his surgical lasers. Now with only one arm, First Aid dives over the edge of Fanfare, dangling upside down from the railing just by the transport's entry hatch. He reaches out with his remaining hand as Amber races up to the transport. "Come on, Amber! Just a little... closer... gotcha!" First Aid grabs Amber's arm and swings both of them on board. The pair land in a heap in his cargo bay, battered but alive. Carjack hahahaha. "Good one!" "Righto! Once yer in, get yer afts intae seats for Vertical Takeoff" rumbles Fanfare as the last of the bots load up. He had his ramp down to make climbing in easier His engines were building up slowly - the angle kept neutral so that he could work up engine RPMS without actually taking off yet. He keeps the ramp down as long as he can, already rumbling along at a fast pace - faster than any human. Good thing Amber was already aboard, right? He names everyone as they climb aboard, anxiously. Once everyone was loaded up, he seals up tight. "Awright, activating JATO in three... two... one..." *BAROOM* With a show of awesomeness rarely seen on Martian by any kind of flying machine, the giant Hercules rips through the air, a disc of compressed molecules forming about him briefly before dispersing, the growl of the broken sound barrier echoing weakly across the red terrain. While not the fastest, he was at this moment, the awesomest. Carjack then laughs more. "Hah! I made the doc cut his own limb off!" Apex says, "Well, well... Looks like you managed ta live. Congratulations. I was rootin' fer you the whole time, Astro. Heheheh." Astrotrain says, "No you weren't, but I'll forgive ya for being blinded by the sheer power of my awesome!" Apex says, "What's that 'Cutrix? I can't hear y-... You're... 'ing up. I... Somethin... a Gerbil? I'm not sure... is physically possible." Carjack says, "Actually, it is. Depraved, desperate humans do it." Apex hurriedly cuts his comm. Carjack then deadpans, "Don't ask -how- I know, there's a few files from that medical planet even I regret reading." Carjack says, "I'll send a recovery crew to find where the Sweep got thrown, and fix the damage they did to that relay." Slugfest says, "me find! me find!" Carjack says, "Okay fine, whatever. Then I don't have to waste valuable technicians that could be repairing Trypticon on it." EDC Station -- Mars Somewhere between the Martian Lake and the Badlands is this installation, the EDC's original base on Mars. This particular room is circular in shape, about 50 feet in diameter, and has a 50' domed ceiling. Everything is lined in thick concrete and reinforced steel. Computer terminals ring the eastern and southern walls, set on low alert status and covered with protective plastic covers. Amber MacKenzie deplanes at the EDC station and strikes briskly to the comm center. Picking a nice swivel chair, she drops into the seat and twirls randomly around for no particular reason. Wheeeeee. Only once, though. "Bugger," she comments succinctly. With that summary of the situation out of the way, she brings her camcorder out and rewinds. "Listen closely, gentlemen." Hardhead mentally counts everyone who comes back. He nods slowly as everyone is accounted for. Quietly, he moves closer towards Amber in order to listen. Amber MacKenzie hits replay. The tiny screen has video, which most of the Autobots won't be able to see too well, but the important thing is the audio. Purple-and-Silver has his arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. "... but if it works..." He loses his smile briefly at having nearly spoken sacrilege and rushes on with "... which of course it will, we win." Yellow Decepticon whines, "But it's alien technology. Remember what happened to..." Purple-and-Silver snaps, "Shut up! It was just a temporary setback, and don't you forget it! We are Decepticons, not cowering fleshlings! We will use technology from the alien base to kill all the humans." First Aid follows after Amber. He is missing an arm due to the late-battle amputation. This is frustrating, and it does not bode well for the carpeting in here, but he desperately wants to see what Amber found out and if she needs any help. He waits patiently while she fires up the camcorder. Hmm, we gotta get her a better field camera, he decides. Battlecruiser stands in the back of the room, leaning against the wall. He lights a cigar as Amber hits play, staring intently at the screen. Scattershot unfolds into his hulk of a robot mode, lovingly props his pump action acid lined slug artillery rifle against his shoulder, and lights an energon cigar he stole from Kup. Hubcap trudges in wearily, looking like he's been hit by a train - oh, wait, he was. Leaning back against a wall, he watches with only slight interest as the video plays... right up until that last bit, whereupon he stiffens and straightens up. "Oh boy." Hardhead rubs his jaw. "Hmmmmm...Aliens...." Scattershot scowls at the end of the clip. "MacKenzie, you saved a lot of lives tonight." He stares off for a moment. "First Aid, Hubcap. Ya'll fought a Matrix worthy fight tonight." Brushing some Martian dirt off of his shoulder, Scattershot turns to Hardhead. "There's no way Rodimus can ignore this." Hardhead looks at Scattershot and nods slightly. "Yes..." He crosses his arms across his chest. "We should prepare." Amber MacKenzie is silent for several long minutes after the recording ends. She gets a feeling of unreality, that this is all a bad dream, and she has to make real effort to shake it off. "Well, we know what Galvatron is here for. In all honesty, it's not a surprise. The alien technology is... Where did they come across this technology? Is it something they found elsewhere and brought here? Or something they found here? I'm inclined to think the former rather than the latter." First Aid covers his mouth plate with his sole hand while the recording plays. He never thought the Decepticons would actually go through with wiping all humans out. They're evil, but traditionally they've wanted to enslave mankind, not destroy it. He gives Scattershot an absentminded nod before looking back at the recording. "Definitely here, Amber. Otherwise they'd be doing all their work on Charr or Cybertron before bringing it here." After what they've been through now, they're on a first name basis as far as First Aid is concerned. Hubcap shrugs. "Speculation on the matter won't help much, it looks like we're gonna need more intel on the matter either way." Scattershot chimes in. "It has to be here. And we have to throw everything we've got at it. Decepticon Island, Charr...They're wastes of time compared to this." He nods at Hubcap. "Gonna be harder now, sadly...but at least we know what we're looking for. Maybe Wheeljack can put together some kinda...alien...tech detector." "How did they know there was an alien base here?" Amber asks with a tired sigh. "Unless there was some clue from somewhere else, what reason would they have for coming here in the first place? It doesn't make sense, unless they just came here to attack the new EDC base and accidentally discovered something obvious nearby." "Yeah, that seems unlikely," First Aid agrees with Amber. To Scattershot, he comments, "I don't see how we can justify not bringing Metroplex up here ASAP. We dealt some damage to Trypticon-" Minor, /minor/ damage, "-so maybe Metroplex could get the upper hand and, I dunno, throw him in the Martian Lake." Per tradition. Amber MacKenzie rises from her chair and steps over to First Aid. "Thanks, First Aid, for pulling me out of there. I had my doubts about making it around those Decepticons." Her gaze moves to his missing arm, a bit guiltily. "I'm sorry that you had to suffer for it, too. I could've come faster..." Scattershot calls up a holographic table map of the Martian surface, staring at Trypticon's location. "Ah wonder..." Noting the movement, he glances up at Amber. "MacKenzie. You did your planet proud tonight." He gives her a nod. First Aid gives Amber a little salute and a smile with his optics, "Not a problem, Amber. This will be patched right up and I'll be as good as new." Four decades ago First Aid would have added 'but humans are fragile and so need protecting', but he's learned since that this simply isn't true. Amber MacKenzie turns to Fanfare next. "And to you for flying us out. You were a big target, and you took that risk." Her gaze moves to rest of the warriors. "And you all for handing those Decepticons a beating and keeping them too busy to look for a tiny squishy sneaking around." Then Scattershot speaks, but she still seems a bit glum. "Thank you, Commander. Here's hoping we can do something about it in time." Fanfare enters just as Amber says that, and blinks at that. Engine 'three' was still hissing and popping softly, the metal ticking as it cooled. One wing was slightly askew, as though it hadn’t folded up quite right, and he moved in slight discomfort, despite being practically untouched by attacks. He grins at Amber, and starts fishing in pockets "That's wot a Suicide Jockey does lass! We do the worse, most dangerous, terrible jobs, so that other fliers dun have tae. 'Delivery or Death!' me bruv would say." he finally finds an enercigar. Autobot Message: 3/69 Posted Author Worse than we thought. Mon Apr 30 Scattershot Scattershot faces the camera, standing in one of the hidden EDC facilities on Mars. Behind him, Hardhead and First Aid are studying a holographic table map of the Martian surface. Everyone is pretty banged up. Scattershot looks grim...mer than usual. "Operation: Look Over Here can be considered a success." He says after a moment before realizing he doesn't have a cigar. Calling one up from subspace, he chomps down on it as he continues. "Ah'd like to recommend Fanfare, Hubcap, and First Aid for formal recognition: an Iacon Star would be appropriate. Fanfare dropped our troops in. Ah was able to keep heavy hitters off of the team while they disabled Trypticon and engaged ground forces long enough for Amber MacKenzie to gather intel. Meanwhile, Nosecone was able to dig the rest of the Technobots right up to the Con's front door so that Computron could do some damage up close." He pauses for a moment. "Amber MacKenzie. Damn. Autobots, you owe this human your respect. She's faced danger on this planet that Ah've seen Autobots hesitate in front of. Nate Briar, whatever kind of gifts human females like, she's earned 'em." He taps a few buttons on the holographic table. Footage of several Decepticon science mechs shimmers to life. "She hit pay dirt. Rodimus, listen up." Purple-and-Silver has his arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. "... but if it works..." He loses his smile briefly at having nearly spoken sacrilege and rushes on with "... which of course it will, we win." Yellow Decepticon whines, "But it's alien technology. Remember what happened to..." Purple-and-Silver snaps, "Shut up! It was just a temporary setback, and don't you forget it! We are Decepticons, not cowering fleshlings! We will use technology from the alien base to kill all the humans." The footage vanishes. Scattershot continues. "Galvatron has gained access to some kind of dormant alien tech. We don't know specifics, but it means big trouble for earth. We need to hit the Decepticons and hit them hard. Hardhead and I are in agreement, Rodimus: Mars is Priority One. No more hanging on for table scraps and hiding in caves. Looking forward to seeing you on the Red Planet. Scattershot out." AUTOBOT SPINNY!